Juror asks judge to give treatment, not just prison time, to Wayne Treacy

Wayne Treacy is lead way in handcuffs after a guilty verdict in his he attempted… (Carline Jean, Sun Sentinel )

July 20, 2012|By Rafael Olmeda, Sun Sentinel

FORT LAUDERDALE — A juror who convicted Pompano Beach teenager Wayne Treacy of first-degree attempted murder earlier this week urged the judge overseeing the case on Friday to focus on mental health treatment instead of mere punishment for the defendant.

In a call conducted on speakerphone in open court Friday, the male juror, who was not named, told Broward Circuit Judge David Haimes that he stood by his decision to find Treacy, 17, guilty as charged in the 2010 beating of Josie Lou Ratley, but he expressed as much concern for the Treacy's future as he did for the victim in the case.

"I'm very hopeful that, a, Wayne lives through this, and b, if he does, that he could somehow communicate to kids and adults about how important it is to get help after you" go through a traumatic experience, he said.

He said his fellow jurors felt the same way, although they rejected Treacy's insanity defense.

Treacy attacked Ratley after she made an offhand reference to Treacy's brother in a hostile text message exchange on March 17, 2010. Treacy's brother, Michael Bell, 30, had committed suicide by hanging five months earlier, and Treacy saw the body before it was cut down from a tree.

Prosecutors and defense lawyers cast Treacy's trial as one in which there were no winners, but the juror said there was still a way to draw something positive out of the tragedy.

"The only way se can get a victory in this case, other than Josie getting better, is for Wayne to get better," he said.

Prosecutor Maria Schneider said she understood the juror's compassion and the need for Treacy to get treatment for the severe Post Traumatic Stress Disorder he has suffered since his brother's death.

"Wayne will at some point be back in our community," she said, adding that intensive treatment has to be provided in the years to come. But she added that prison time is also a necessary part of Treacy's sentence. "His actions were too serious to concern ourselves with treatment exclusively. We may disagree [with the defense] over punishment, but we agree that he needs help."

Haimes thanked the juror and promised to consider his input, but gave no indication how it will affect his decision when he sentences Treacy later this year. The defendant faces a maximum of 50 years in prison.

Defense lawyer Russell Williams said he has never denied that Treacy should be held accountable for beating Ratley so badly that she barely survived and suffered permanent brain damage. "It happened because of a mental illness Wayne suffered," he said, adding that he did not believe prison would offer the kind of mental health treatment his client will need before he is released into society.

Williams said he has never seen a juror come back after convicting someone to ask a judge for mercy in 25 years of practice. "It took a lot of guts for him to do that," he said.